


The Boy of Thread and His Foolish Father

by ETNMystic



Series: Mystic's Tales (Because Scheherazade is gorgeous in ETN, okay?!) [4]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Bittersweet Ending, But also not, Dolls, Gen, I mean it's not necessarily a death persay, it's kind of a tragedy, it's more like...., schrodinger's tragedy, well it'll make more sense if you read it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-18
Updated: 2021-02-18
Packaged: 2021-03-13 21:34:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,403
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29532756
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ETNMystic/pseuds/ETNMystic
Summary: Treasure what you have.
Series: Mystic's Tales (Because Scheherazade is gorgeous in ETN, okay?!) [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2169567
Comments: 1
Kudos: 1





	The Boy of Thread and His Foolish Father

A long time ago, there lived a cattle farmer and his young son, the only family he had. The two were very opposite; the young boy loved playing amongst the cattle while the farmer was strict and did not wish to be so frivolous. For he knew time was money, and he would always say to anyone who asked

“I dare not waste money, thus I dare not waste time.”

His son would always try to get him to play with him.

“Father, come with me! It is so much fun to see the cattle run amok!”

However, the father was indifferent to his son. He would simply brush him off.

“Bah! Go back to the cattle then, you pest.”

One day while he was in town getting food for his cattle, he stumbled upon a strange stall. It was one that had strange inscriptions on its wooden polls. Behind the stall was a figure in a cloak.

“Good sir, would you care to buy something from my shop?”

The voice was that of a rather young woman. He was one to usually pass up stalls that he wasn’t used to, but something made him stay. So he decided to take a gander.

The father looked down, but all he could see were spools upon spools of thread as well as dolls that were made of yards of thread and possessed button eyes.

“Bah! Do not waste my time! I have livestock and a nuisance of a boy to feed. I haven’t enough money or time as it is.”

There was a brief silence.

“Is that so? Then I have just the solution for you.

She reached behind her and pulled out a large spool of thread.

“This thread shall bring you what you seek. All you must do is tie a piece of thread onto your boy’s fingers, then toes, hands, feet, wrists, ankles, arms, legs, torso, neck, and head. But you must only do one every night while he is asleep. By the time you have completed the thread, you shall have all the time and money you could ever wish for.”

The man gave this consideration. He didn’t usually believe in such superstition, but he was coming to the end of his funds and desperately needed more.

“What do you charge for it?”

“Nothing, good sir.”

The father nodded and took the thread.

“Now,” the woman directed him.  
“Tie the thread around the first finger tonight. And you must not allow your son to take these off ever, lest the spell be broken, and your riches steal away.”

He nodded absent-mindedly as he thought of the possibilities.

“Free thread and free money…..” he said as he left, keeping his eyes locked to the spool.

As a matter of fact, he was so caught up with this thread that he didn’t hear the woman say

“Nothing in life is truly free.”

* * *

That night, the father stole into his son’s room. He quietly took out the boy’s hand and tied a piece of thread around the pinky finger, making sure to tie it very tightly in fear that it could fall off. Once the deed was done, he stole back to his own room and waited.

The next morning, he awoke to a knock on his door. Upon opening it, he saw a very rich man dressed in a suit and tie.

“Are those your cattle?”

The father nodded cautiously.

“I wish to buy one dozen of them.”

Upon hearing this, the father was floored. No one had dared to ask for more than a cattle or two, and now this man wished to buy a whole dozen! The father eagerly agreed and was given tall stacks of cash in exchange. Once the rich man left, he took to his room and took out the spool.

“Could this be true?” he gasped.

He considered this, for a brief moment, to be mere coincidence. But it couldn’t have been! This was the best exchange he’d had in years, and it was just after he used the thread.

And so he kept on using the thread. And in turn, every morning, he would be offered larger and larger orders for much more money. The son, meanwhile, was confused as to why he had all of this thread tied around him, as well as why he was forbidden from removing it. When he asked, the father merely brushed him aside.

As days went on, the boy began to feel weak. He had trouble walking, he began to feel softer, and he seemed to be getting shorter. Despite this, and despite his desperate attempts to appeal to his father, he was brushed off.

Then came the final night. The father was down to the very last piece of thread. It was now big enough to be tied around his son’s head. As he crept in, he thought he saw that his son was much smaller than when he last saw him. Perhaps it was a trick of the light. He brushed it off and tied the final piece around the boy’s head before returning to his room.

The very next morning, to his complete and utter shock, he was greeted by the king.

“I have heard of your success,” he announced.  
“And I wish to buy all of your livestock.”

The father accepted with no hesitation, and in exchange he was given not just tremendous stacks of money, but also jewels. Real jewels! For the rest of the day, the father was so caught up in counting his money that he didn’t notice someone steal into the house.

That evening he decided to make a special dinner for him and his son to celebrate. He took some beef he’d been saving and created a rich, flavorful stew. Once it was finished, he rushed up to his son’s room.

“Son! This morning I was visited by the king. We are rich! Come and have stew with me to celebrate!”

There was no reply. At this moment, he began to panic. He searched everywhere for the boy, asking everyone if they had seen him, but to no avail.

He returned at midnight, tired and distraught. The bags under his eyes were weighed down with his newfound despair. It lingered with him as he went upstairs and readied himself for bed. Once he was ready, he laid in his bed and wept.

* * *

Meanwhile a woman in a cloak was packing up her stall for the night. She returned to her house and went into a secret room. Inside it seemed to be a sort-of doll neighborhood with many dollhouses, well-furnished and looking very comfortable. The room also contained dozens of dolls made of thread and donning button eyes of all colors and sizes, and she had named every single one.

Removing her cloak, she revealed beautiful ivory skin and wavy, dark hair along with a kind face and dark, but loving, eyes.

“Children,” she said kindly and gently.  
“I have a new brother for you.”

She pulled out a doll with thread that was the same color as the one the father had tied onto his son every night along with beautiful black button eyes.

“Please say hello to Erik.”

The children did not respond aloud, but the woman could hear their thoughts, and many of them were quite excited to have a new sibling. She smiled, hearing how well Erik was being received by the others.

The woman cradled Erik like a human child, looking down at him and smiling fondly.

“Such a sweet and innocent child like you doesn’t deserve to be neglected, especially by such a greedy man.”

She gave him a gentle kiss on the forehead and Erik cried inside, not of sadness, but of joy and of love.

“Rest assured, Erik, you’ll no longer be treated in such a way. I shall care for and love you as if you were of my own bloodline, just as I care for and love your siblings.”

She took him over to one of the houses and placed him inside of a soft empty bed before tucking him in.

“And please, do not worry about that greedy man,” she assured him softly.  
“He has what he wanted; all the time and money he could ever wish for.”

Once she made sure he was comfortable, she gave him another kiss on the forehead.

“Goodnight, dearest Erik. Sweet dreams.”


End file.
